OREGON S LE S BIAN/GAY/B l/TRAN S/QUE E R NEWSMAGAZINE
X TO B E R 15 2010
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spent subsequent post-college years trying
rassed or attacked.
to figure out w hat career to pursue. D u rin g
But Moeller believes an effort to de
that tim e, she helped a friend fix up an old
feat a 1992 Oregon ballot measure that
house and found a career calling that would
would have excluded sexual minori
carry her through m ost o f her adult life. Kyle
ties from state programs and funding
was encouraged through her connections
helped educate Vancouver residents
with the Spokan e chapter o f the N ation al
about gay rights.
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“Because we’re all in the same media
W om en’s R esource C enter, to pursue an elec
market, we got all that information,”
trical apprenticeship. Sh e was one o f the first
says Moeller. “I f it hadn’t been for that
w om en in the N orth w est to be accepted into
campaign I would never have gotten
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elected. I got a lot o f hate mail when I
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W orkers’ (I B E W L o c a l 73) apprenticeship
was running. But it all stopped the m o
program in Spokane.
ment I got elected.”
Kyle moved back to Oregon in 1987 and
W hen he made it to Olympia in
became active in the IB E W Local 48, serving
2002, few batted an eye.
on the joint-apprenticeship training committee
People were more surprised that
and teaching at the training facility. She climbed
I was gay from Vancouver more
the labor ladder, rising from crewmember to
than anything else,” says Moeller.
forewoman to project leader and supervising
B y 2008, W ashington had
electricians on large-scale projects.
the second largest gay caucus in
the nation.
That kind o f work ethic is a m ajor factor
during Kyle’s campaign. Focusing on improv
The Columbian has described
ing the public school system, as well as making
Moeller as “tenacious” and “among
low-interest loans available for Oregon’s small
the state’s hardest-working leg
businesses, Kyle has her work cut out for her,
islators,” who’s worked to protect
considering the historically Republican district
services and programs for vulner
she’s running in.
able citizens.
“I have grandkids that I enjoy with my part
W ith jobs being the first issue
ner,” explains Kyle, who identifies as a lesbian.
on every campaign list, Moeller
“We are well aware o f the kind o f experience
points to the fact that he helped get Referen
they’re having going through public schools,
and it’s quite a contrast to the experience I
had. We have great teachers, we have great staff
people in the public schools, but they’ve been
Vancouver's
pioneering legislator
faces on uphill bottle
ham strung in so many ways.”
dum 51 to voters this November. The referen
dum promises to create some 36,000 new jobs
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through a $3 billion bond measure to upgrade
and weatherize public schools.
Moeller has fought to increase revenue for
BY CORNELIUS SWART
state programs. This year, he reinstituted a pro
school budgets are being m isspent and redirect
The Jackie Robinson o f W ashington State’s
gram that recouped millions in vehicle registra
ing those funds into program s that would most
gay politicians is on the ropes. Jim Moeller,
tion fees from Vancouver residents who register
benefit teachers and students— namely early
55, has been in government since 1995, when
their cars across the river in Oregon. H e’s also
childhood education, developing mentorship
he became the first openly gay elected official
backed a controversial $300 million temporary
program s for teachers and devising a way that
in W ashington State history. Now seeking
tax on soda, candy and bottled water that he says
teachers can progress up a pay scale. Dovetailing
his fourth term as H ouse Representative for
was necessary to help fill the state’s $12 billion
with Kyle’s enormous support from the labor
Vancouver’s District 44, he faces his toughest
biannual budget shortfall.
movement— which accounts for alm ost all o f
election yet. H is opponent, Republican Craig
Given that, Moeller also believes the state is
her campaign’s financial backing— are equally
Riley, has been riding a national wave o f popular
too dependent on sales tax revenue. H e supports
important issues she supports, like paid family
discontent. M oeller says that for the first time,
Bill Gates Sr.’s Initiative 1098, which would
STAIN ED G LA SS
OVERLAY
leave and employment-related daycare.
he’s got an opponent who’s challenging him on
create the state’s first income tax for individuals
1214 SE 7th Ave. Portland. 97214
the issues and not on the fact that he’s gay.
earning more than $200,000 a year and would
Kyle’s plan involves identifying areas where
“T hey’re the kinds o f investm ents we
need to m ake in order to have a g o o d public
In
m id-October
The Columbian , Clark
cut statewide property taxes by 20 percent.
County’s largest newspaper, endorsed M oeller’s
However, his unapologetic, pro-tax stance has
a healthy life and fam ily life in our com m u
opponent. It’s the first time in his career that
made him a target for conservatives and voters
nity,” says Kyle.
M oeller didn’t win their endorsement. M oeller’s
frustrated by the recession. H is opponents have
R epresentin g an alternative to C am eron ’s
gone from being a pioneer to working in one
labeled him the “Taxman.” Even Moeller admits
objectives in the district— objectives she read
o f the country’s most gay-friendly legislatures.
he’s more vulnerable than he’s ever been, but that
ily adm its she hasn’t had m uch opportunity to
Considering that, and the “enthusiasm gap”
people just assume he’ll always be there.
analyze— seem s far from Kyle’s m ind. Rather,
among his constituents, one has to wonder if
her priorities and those o f O regonians, she
M oeller isn’t being taken for granted this elec
says Moeller. “They think, ‘Oh, Jim , you’re go- :
feels, lie in sim ply doin g w h at’s best for the
ing to win,’ so they don’t get involved in the :
state and not falling victim to m ore partisan
tion cycle.
In 1995, when M oeller won a seat in the
politics.
Vancouver City Council, he was the state’s first
gay elected official. In 2002, he went to Olympia
people, need to have a voice in the legislature,”
as a state representative and became the first gay
explains Kyle. “G o o d ideas can com e from
elected leader in the state house.
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“In some ways I think I’m such a fixture,”
campaign.”
:
Moeller states that you don’t have to be a :
Washington resident to help the campaign.
“People can volunteer, make phone calls, make :
donations,” he says. While Moeller does make :
“Maybe it was a chiffon ceiling?” poses-
public appearances encouraging gay citizens to :
or R epublican course; it needs to be the best
Moeller, playfully considering what it was like
become more involved in politics, he says it’s not :
course for O regon. I think this district is ready
to break through the velvet ceiling.
limited to the L G B T community.
M oeller rem em bers it wasn’t easy being
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('.ill and ask about G ift Certificates
any cam p. I t ’s not gon na be a D em ocratic
for a different kind o f representation.” % !•]
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sgodesignerglass.com
school system and g oo d , solid foundation for
“Those o f us w ho are w orking, m iddle-class
D E SIG N E R G LA SS
$15 V alue Discount
“Everyone should be more involved. I t ]
gay in Vancouver. In the late ’80s and early
For more information about Moeller's run, v is it :
For more information about Claudia Kyle's candi
’90s, h an ging out at bars like the N orth Bank
dacy, visit claudiakyle.com.
Tavern, he and his friends were routinely h a jimmoeller.org.
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